Recent Tenant story… “I’m in the parking lot at the grocery store and a parking spot comes open right in front! I swerve in and, at the very last moment, slam on my brakes. There is a goat tied to a shopping cart right in front of me. A goat! Right there! I get out my car and untie the goat and put it in the back seat of my car. Where do you take a goat in the city? Anyway, I go in the grocer to get a few thing and I come back to find the goat in the front seat of my car chewing up an envelope. My rent money! Its gone. The goat ate my rent money.”
Being in this business long enough will allow you to experience the greatest story telling in the world. People are creative. Ghost appear. Tooth fairy’s steal. Robbers wearing track shoes. Of course, it’s all funny after the fact. Part of our roll is seeing the smoke from the fire. More importantly, we have a business to run. This business requires collecting funds from customers to pay expenditures, including our fees, and delivering proceeds to asset owners. Rental revenue runs our businesses.
An important part of rent collections is remaining consistent and refraining from any form of favoritism. If rent is due on the first and late after the fifth, then everyone paying after the fifth is assessed late fees. If the evictions policy is notification on the tenth, then this notification schedule applies equally to all.
We have found the dividing line squarely rest on communication. Tenants that communicate provide us with cause, occasionally, to stray from the lock step structure of payment receipts. Along with this is the timing of said communication. If prior to the late fee date, then there is a high probability of receipt of payment. If ten days after notice to evict, then probability of receipt is severely diminished.
Whether the story includes farm animals or dollars melded together from roasting marshmallows, these stories seldom assist in getting our vendors paid and owners in the black. But they certainly can add some color to our day. But keep your eye on the prize; 100% collections, each month, every month.
Comment here and tell us about some of your all time favorite “stories”.
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Extra-thick skin is a requisite of being in property management. I will occasionally share that if they have somewhere they can live for free, that’s the first place to check out!
My favorite was the guilt trip. I was into the eviction process with this resident for non-payment of rent and when she received a letter from court, she said “How dare you put my kids into the street.” As it turns out, I was the only landlord to file on her, after living in4 apartments in 2 years.
Thanks John, this article brings up a great point. It is important for landlords to use the tools and technology that are available in order to maximize the efficiency of the rent collection process. Time and energy is often wasted in chasing problem tenants for rents. Online Rent payment solutions have helped us take the guess work out of communicating with tenants for rent. We use NovelPay (www.NovelPay.com) which eliminates troubles associated with claims that “the check is in the mail” by allowing us to view all payments in real time, and accept rent payments immediately online 24/7 by ACH or Credit Card.
Using NovelPay has improved the efficiency of our rent collection process and decreased the number of disputes, arrears, and court cases that we have to pursue each year. If you don’t have an online payment solution in place, you should strongly consider it.
John,
What a witty, accurate portrayal of tenants and the collection rents. As a landlord I have heard it all – you are right on the money. It is amazing how creative tenants can be. As you mentioned, communication is key, simply let us know what is going on and be proactive. That way we can mitigate the damage and work together. Communication is the key to all relationships particularly landlord/tenant ones!